기독교에 있어서의 언어 : 그 문제와 변천 = The Christian Language : It's Task and Development

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Kyung Bea Min. 1997. The Christian Language: Its Task and Development. Collected Papers on Christain Language Culture. It is admitted by all that the relation between religion and the languages is so closely interwoven that no religion could stand without some sort of doctrinal and theological systematisation of the message in literary forms. In the East and largely in the mystical traditions in the West, however, it is widely recognised by many critics that the language in such circle occupies relatively negative position and sometime words and doctrinal systems suffer neglect and contempt. The idea is that the transcendental reality in terms of highest truth and beauty Is beyond description due to the limit of human language, so much so that any attempt to represent the supreme reality or the idea Pertaining to it in terms of verbalisation is destined to be frustrated, and even more is open to the criticism for being heresy and unconformity to the existing orthodox. This is the precise reason why the mystics and the Easterners are tend to refrain from speaking or writing the truth that they came to know or experienced in the depth of their soul.
We thought it wise to start from the difference between the language of Eastern culture and the Hebrew pattern of the language behaviour. In the course we found that original language of the Old Testament is dramatic in such a way that there is a conspicuous phenomenon of the verb usages. There is a phenomenal stress of the verbs with relative infrequency of nouns and adjectives. It is a remarkably mobile and activating language and the description of motion is even more accurately and thoroughly present.
In the course of development of the Christian Church in the early period, however, the necessity for the world wide mission made it obligatorv for the infant Christian community to apply Greek language then the universal currency. Furthermore, the Greek was regarded for its excellent instrumentality for philosophical logic and systematic statement of the religious message in terms of understandable composition.
This process, however, was suspected in greater degree for the reason of loosing and dispensing the originality and the native sentiment of the simplicity of Jesus' Aromatic message and words, and even His living personality.
In accordance with the development of the Christian Church, always the language used by the leading church community and society was applied for the logic and doctrine of the Church, hence, in the Mediaeval period, the Latin. It was sort of Roman spirit we find in it, which was especially effective in using for the ecclesiastical terminology and liturgical usages, for solemnity. The Latin was uniformly read and strictly observed to speak and write for the cause of unification and conformity of the Roman Catholic Church.
In the sixteenth century when the Reformation was approaching, the vulgates was replaced with the national languages such as English, German and French so on. It was natural phenomena because the Reformation principle made it quite certain that the faith of every individual person or community was the only right way for the salvation. And that meant every person and society were to read and understand the Holy Scripture in their own language of spirit and experience. This Reformation principle was based on the theological dogma that the Scripture's self exposition, viz. the principle of
Perspicuity.
In Korean churches, it was highly appreciated that the Hangul, which was regarded one of the best alphabets of the world, was rendered a chance to root in the literary and logical thinking of the Korean people through the course of systematic work of grammar and syntax upon the translation of the Bible. And again the Bible which was translated into Korean enhance the the people of Korea to speak and think in terms of, and in accordance with, the Christian terminologies and vocabularies. For the Korean language, in literary form and grammar, was first begun to be in use only after the translation of the Bible.
The language of the Bible in Korea largely affected the thought-form of the people and ethical conception and attitude. We saw the typical case in the person of Kim Kyoshin.
The language of the Holy Scripture and Christian Church had its own constitution and sentiment in the beginning, and of course had the depth of the religious message in such a circumstances, which called the philological and text form criticism for the clarification of the original feelings and life-situation. But Christian Church was to spread to the world wide Ecumene, and surely lost its original, primitive beauty and aesthetics. The Christian language, however, is destined to retain the basic message and salvatory truth in its vitality and totality with all its different and diverse language translation and idioms. (Yon Sei University)

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ.문제의 제기
• Ⅱ.표현의 정확성의 문제
• Ⅲ.구약적 언어의 특색
• Ⅳ.성서에서의 언어
• Ⅴ.기독교 교리에서의 언어의 문제
• Ⅵ.한국교회에 있어서의 기독교 언어의 문제
• Ⅶ.결어